Pakistan’s Foreign Policy Towards India - Scholar Research
Pakistan’s Foreign Policy towards IndiaDuring Musharraf eraUnder The Supervision ofDr. Iram KhalidSubmitted byFatima AkhtarSemester: 1 (Final term)M Phil International RelationsIntroduction to Foreign Policy AnalysisDepartment of Political Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore
Table of contents1. Abstract2. Introduction3. Literature Review4. Objectives5. Research Methodology6. Research Questions7. Pakistan’s Foreign Policy Towards India during Musharraf Era (19992008)8. Agra Summit 2001: The Revival of Bilateral Negotiations9. India-Pakistan Relations Post 9/1110.The Revival of Composite Dialogue11.Adoption of the Joint Anti Terrorism Mechanism12.Musharrafs Four point Formula on Kashmir13.Samjhota Express Incident and its implications over Indo-PakistanRelations14. Conclusion15. References
Pakistan’s Foreign Policy towards India during Musharraf EraAbstractForeign policy is the set of principles or certain objectives which determines therelations of one state with other. It is the persuade of national interest of any stateand shaped by various actors including governmental institutions, political parties,lobbies , public opinion, media, research and policy oriented think tanks. Sinceinception, Pakistan‟s foreign policy is based on friendship and good will towardsall the nations of world. Pakistan has always extended moral and material supportto the needy nations of the world. However as far as Pakistan‟s foreign policytowards India is concerned it is full of multiple constraints. Both nations haveproblematic relations full with history of wars and bilateral disputes. Some of longrunning issues include the territorial dispute of Kashmir, Siachin, Sircrek alongwith water issues. There are several issues of multiple nature which need to beaddressed by both states.After taking office, General Pervaiz Musharraf tried to rebuilt the softer image ofPakistan towards all including India. The process of reconciliation between bothneighbours once again started through Agra Summit after the period of deadlocksince Kargil episode of 1999. The post 9/11 war on terror changed the attitude ofboth India and Pakistan. Particularly soon after terrorist attack on Indian
Parliament at India started raising voice globally against state sponsored terrorismby Pakistan apart from that both states were reached at brink of war. Pakistanbanned the several Islamic militant organization involved in jihad cause in Jammuand Kashmir under pressure of India and international community and it was amajor shift in Pakistan‟s foreign policy towards India. Pakistan declared that shewould not support the militants against India and would not let her territory to beused against any state including India. The series of composite dialogue, thehistoric four point formula of Musharraf over Kashmir, the several efforts towardsConfidence building and the Joint Anti Terrorism Mechanism were the coredevelopments during President Musharraf regime.IntroductionI feel very greatly honored to have the opportunity to present my research work onPakistan‟s Foreign Policy Towards India during Musharraf Era (1999-2008) Mybasic aim to write this research paper is to closely analyze all the aspects ofPakistan‟s foreign policy towards India during General Pervaiz Musharraf era. Inhis first press conference Musharraf showed his policy aims regarding India in theway that Indian hostility would be met with hostility, peace with peace and threatswith threats and he will ensure the honor and dignity of the country. It was alsodeclared that anyone threatening to Pakistan would get a threatening response.
Musharraf talked about the Kashmir Issue and placed it at central position inPakistan‟s foreign policy towards India. Musharraf expressed the desire for therevival of composite dialogue process. The major shift in Pakistan‟s foreign policytowards India came after 9/11 incident. Pakistan was remained engaged in supportof freedom fighters in Jammu and Kashmir. Many Islamic militant organizationswere funded by Pakistan‟s government and ISI for a long period against the Indianarmy in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. After 9/11, Pakistan became US ally in waron terror and made strategic decisions to eradicate terrorist groups and theiractivities. Pakistan‟s support for Kashmiri militant groups has been severelyconstrained by its status as a key US ally in the „war on terror. Since 9/11 manyKashmiri groups which Pakistan long favored as „freedom fighters‟, have featuredprominently on US government terrorist watch-lists or had their assets frozen afterbeing classed as proscribed organizations.The terrorist attack on IndianParliament in Delhi on 13 December 2001 led the both states towards the high ofconfrontation resulted in military standoff. President Musharraf in his speech on12 januray 2002, declared ban on Jaish e Muhammad and Lashkar e Toiba, byfreezing their assets and Pakistani authorities detained nearly 2000 Islamicactivists. General Musharraf‟s speech is being interpreted as beginnings ofquantitative change in Pakistan‟s India policies. Pakistan resumed the peaceprocess with the resurgence of Composite Dialogue in 2004 and the restoration of
diplomatic relations and over flights etc was the first priority above all which hadbeen broken after the terrorist attacks on Indian Parliament in December 2001.Several rounds of talks on Sir Creek, Siachen, Wuller Dam, talks on NuclearConfidence Building Measures, Conventional CBMS were the part of peaceprocess. The opening of the Bus service between Srinagar and Muzzffarabad , thehumanitarian steps on the return of the fishermen along many other issues ofconcern were the part of dialogue between both states.Literature Review:Owen Bennett and Dr. Farzana Shaikh in the article “Pakistan’s foreign policyunder Musharraf: between a rock and a hard place” have reviewed Pakistan‟sforeign policy towards India. General Musharraf was more determined to break thedeadlock surfaced early between India-Pakistan and showed seriousness aboutresolving the Kashmir dispute.Musharraf moved further from Pakistan‟sestablished positions on Kashmir than any of his predecessors. His main objectiveto resume dialogue with India was to build his country‟s image as responsibleplayer on world stage and to build international support for his military led regime.P. M. Kamath in the book “India-Pakistan Relations: Courting Peace fromthe Corridors of War” has analysed the ups and downs of Indo-Pakistanrelationships. He wrote that the emergence of a common threat-terrorism including
the potential for nuclear, radiological terrorism has drawn Pakistan closer to India.The cross border terrorism as an instrument of Pakistani state policy has beensource of much India-Pakistan hostility of recent years. However Pakistan startedto change its policy over militant support in Indian occupied Kashmir and severalIslamic militant organizations were banned in the country under GeneralMusharraf regime.Saira Khan in her book “Nuclear Weapons and Conflict Transformation: TheCase of India-Pakistan” explained the role of leadership as well as third party indiffusing high tension among states. She highlighted crucial role of US to holddialogue and improve mutual understanding between Indo-Pakistan.USpressurized Musharraf to crack down on terrorism and the steps he took towardsthis direction have helped to change India‟s image of Pakistanis. A dramatic policychange was outcome of role of great power which helped to create so propitiousenvironment for conflict resolution between the parties. In the result of third partymediation , Musharraf took steps to uproot terrorism against strong domesticopposition and participated in dialogue process.Muhammad Asif Bashir and Mughees Ahmad in the article “Pak-IndiaRelations during Musharraf Era: Behaviorak study of leadership” argued thatthe challenges of 21st century global politics led both India and Pakistan to devise
their foreign policy towards the war against terrorism. The history of IndiaPakistan relations is a story of mutual misunderstanding, mistrust, lack ofconfidence to take positive decisions, misperceptions and disharmony. Howeverthe speed with which Musharraf launched his diplomatic peace offensive withIndia was prompted by Perheps his calculations of how India initiative couldcontribute to counterbalance thenegative characteristics of his two majorliabilities, the Kargil legacy and his government‟s unconstitutional status.Shamshad Ahmad in his article “Post-9/11 Foreign Policy of Pakistan” hasdescribed the acute challenges to Pakistan‟s national security and her interest in thepost 9/11 era. In the context of her relationship with India, Pakistan reshaped herforeign policy agenda to normalize her relations with India. President Musharraf‟sunprecedented gestures of flexibility and compromise, including his multipleformulae for resolving the Kashmir issue beyond the UN prescribed solutionsbased on the inalienable right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir didnot cut any ice . The future of this process will now depend on the freshness ofpolitical approach that both India and Pakistan will be able to bring in to sustainthis process and to make it purposeful. What should be clear to them by now is thatin today‟s world, there will be no military solution to their problems, nor willmilitancy bring oppressed people any closer to freedom.
Objectives:I have multiple aims of having the research on“Pakistan‟s Foreign PolicyTowards India during Musharraf Era” including: To closely examine the nature of the bilateral relationship between bothstates particulary during General Musharraf rule. To describe the important prospects and the challenges in the way tobuilding up peaceful relationship between both states. To briefly explain the significant initiatives taken by the government ofPakistan under Mushrraf leadership to resume the peace process betweenboth neighbours.Research Question: What were the foreign policy priorities of General Pervaiz Musharrafin the context of Pakistan‟s relationship with India? What were the significant initiatives taken by Pakistan to normalizeits relations with India during Musharraf era?Research Methodology:I used qualitative and analytical research methodology in this research paper.Different books, articles and research papers were read and then data wasinterpreted to get the complete understanding and answers to the basic research
questions. This was done to give the reader a complete background knowledgeof the topic and make it a worth reading research. While concluding somepolicy options or suggestions have also been mentioned.Military Regime of General Pervez Musharraf:On October 12, 1999, Pakistan‟s army chief, General Pervaiz Musharraf tookover the country by dismissing the democratically elected government of the PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif. General Musharraf coup was not a unique one and was theresult of weak political institutions. After coming into power General PervezMusharraf Introduced a new word “Chief Executive” instead of adopting thecustomary title of Chief Martial Law Administrator. He projected himself asresponsible and professional soldier who will bring true democracy in Pakistan. Hejustified the role of army that army was forced to take this step to save the countryfrom turmoil and uncertainty.After coming into power, General Musharraf tried to resume the positive imagaeof Pakistan. He tried to resume friendly relations with the rest of the world.Moreover he expressed his desire to resume the process of normalization of IndoPakistan relations. The military took over in Pakistan was not welcomed by Indiaand they extensively criticized General Musharraf. The Indian leadership refusedto negotiate with the Military dictator General Musharraf. Actually the India
leadership was not ready to initiate dialogue with the non-democratic government.The Indian attitude was much negative to the newly establish military rule andthere were two main reasons for which India did not want to continue the dialoguewith Pakistan. The first reason was that the Indian leadership did much trust on thedemocratic government of Nawaz Sharif due to his positive attitude to theresolution of mutual disputes. The second reason was that the Army Chief GeneralMusharraf was the master mind of the insurgency in Kargil. Nawaz Sharif wasmore trust worthy for India as compared to Musharraf and reason was the struggleof Prime minister of Pakistan for holding the Lahore declaration.Indian leadership considered Musharraf the reason for the dismantling of peaceprocess between India and Pakistan. India also blamed Pakistan for the cross –border terrorism. They not only dismantled all diplomatic relations with Pakistanbut also tried to defame Pakistan at international front. India declared that she willnot attend the South Asian Association for Regional cooperation (SAARC)meetings, and made several efforts to isolate Pakistan at international fronts like inCommonwealth Conferences and the UN. The Indian hostile attitude created moretension in the relations of both countries. The aggression and hostilities continuedand even Pakistan remained involve in violence and supported the JihadistsKashmir.1in
The Indian leadership was quite unhappy with the military takeover byMusharraf. They showed their grave concerns regarding the dismissal ofdemocratic government. The Indian External Affairs minister Jaswant Singh saidthat:“We are concerned over the developments in Pakistan. But there is no cause foralarm or anxiety”2General Musharraf adopted more assertive approach towards India. He was verymuch keen for the revival of peace between Pakistan and India on the basis ofequality. In his first press conference on 1st NovemberMusharraf showed hispolicy aims regarding India in the way that:“Indian hostility would be met with hostility, peace with peace and threats withthreats. I will ensure the honor and dignity of this country. Nobody threaten uswithout getting a threatening response.” 3Musharraf talked about the Kashmir Issue and placed it at central position inPakistan‟s foreign policy towards India. Musharraf expressed the desire for therevival of composite dialogue process. He expressed that:“We would like to resolve all our differences with India and when I say all ourdifferences, I mean the core issue of Kashmir first of all or simultaneously at least.But if there is any design to address issues other than Kashmir and sideline the
Kashmir issue then I am no.t part of it. The Kashmir issue has to be addressed andwith that all other issue can be addressed. If this is the attitude we see from acrossthe border, I can assure that I will be going far ahead of the Indian in this area”.4The conflicts between India and Pakistan escalated in December 1999 when anIndian Airline aircraft was hijacked to Kandhar after taking off from Katmandu. Itwas stated that the hijackers came from Pakistan and supported by Pakistan‟s InterService Intelligence (ISI). The hijackers made demands to the Indian governmentto release the thirty five imprisoned terrorists. The major demand was to releaseMohammad Masood Azhar the leader of Pakistan based militant organization Jaishe Mohammad who was involved in the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. TheIndiangovernment after the seven days later took important decision to releasethe three terrorists and in return the hijackers released the captured passengers.This incident proved as the last nail into the coffin of indo- Pakistan dialogueprocess. The relations of two countries reached to its lowest point whereaggression, hostility and animosity left for each other. Till mid 2000 the deadlockcontinued between India and Pakistan. Pakistani support for militant in Kashmirwas increased, the violation of cease fire, cross border terrorism get strength withthe arrival of the military regime in Pakistan. The reason for Pakistan‟s aggressionwas their unwanted withdrawal from Kargil under International pressure due towhich they had to step back and faced much criticism and insult. 5
Agra Summit 2001: The Revival of Bilateral Negotiations:During 2000 Pakistan tried hard to convince India for the bilateral negotiationsand she struggled to revive the relations with India. Pakistan although accepted theunilateral cease fire from India but the Indian leadership did not respond more thanthe withdrawal of troops from the borders.The deadlock broken to some extent when in early 2001 the President Musharrafmade a telephone call to the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee andshowed his sympathies over the disaster during earthquake in Kutch and Gujarat.Moreover Pakistan sent relief goods and medicine to India for the victims ofearthquake.6 The Indian Prime Minister later on showed gesture of goodwilltowards Pakistan. On May 25, 2001 the Indian Prime Minister Atal BehariVajpayee sent an invitation to the Chief Executive of Pakistan General Musharrafto visit New Delhi for Summit level talks. General Musharraf accepted theinvitation and on July 14, 2001 he reached India. He was warmly welcomed by theIndian officials. The visit based upon many expectations from the both countries.The leaders met in the historical city of Agra. The expectations were too muchhigh from both countries and the meeting was encouraged from the stake holdersof both countries.7
The four rounds of talks were held and the both leaders talked about mutual issuesof grave concern. They discussed about the number of issues including the issue ofJammu and Kashmir. The leadership of both sides insisted upon the need ofresolution of conflicts through the bilateral talks. India and Pakistan focused uponthe need of developing peace and cooperation. Pakistan expressed that Indiashould accept the Conflict of Kashmir as the Core issue in the way of developmentof peace and mutual harmony. Whereas the Indian leadership forced Pakistan totake concrete steps for the elimination of Cross- Border terrorism. However therewas difference of opinions over Kashmir and General Musharraf argued that theCross- border terrorism was the outcome of Kashmir dispute which could only endin case of resolution of that dispute. Both states could not reach to a joint statementand remained static over their agenda which ultimately resulted in the failure of thebilateral talks. Moreover the talks rather failed but the both countries agreed uponthe continuation of the dialogue process in the future. Both states focused toincrease the role of media for the normalization of relations and India allowedPakistani delegations to come and present their views to the Indian public. 8However all discussions led towards the failure of the Agra Summit. Actually thedraft of the Summit was finalized between the Foreign Ministers and thesecretaries from the both sides but the Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee refused tosign the agreement at the last minute because his cabinet did not accept the
agreement. Whereas the agreement was re-drafted but the Indian leadershipstepped back from signing the agreement.9India-Pakistan Relations Post 9/11:On September 11, 2001, United States of America was hit by the terroristattacks which changed the whole political scenario of the world. These attackssuddenly shocked the United States of America as well as the whole world. Theterrorists targeted the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and thePentagon in Washington D.C by striking the hijacked aircrafts them. These attacksbrought a huge destruction and over 7000 people were killed. The US presidentdecided to attack the Al-Qaeda and her supporters the Afghan fundamentalistrulers or the Taliban. Bush announced War against terrorism and asked a directhelp from Pakistan in order to capture the important leaders of Al-Qaeda and theTaliban.10The US stance was that the state that will not support her war against terrorism willbe considered equal to he
by Pakistan apart from that both states were reached at brink of war. Pakistan banned the several Islamic militant organization involved in jihad cause in Jammu and Kashmir under pressure of India and international community and it was a major shift in Pakistan‟s foreign policy towards In
Foreign Policy of Pakistan towards India in Musharraf Era Foreign policy is a set of ideologies and objectives which determines the relations of one state towards another state. Pakistan’s foreign policy is based upon friendship and goodwill towards all the states in the world.
towards Pakistan has never been without criticism from politicians, intellectuals and many others people from various fields of life. US Foreign Policy towards Pakistan: A Chronological Explanation Pakistan came into existence during a period that marked the struggle of ideolo
Media Articles Business Week (19 Feb 2007 issue) Doctrine: Journal of General Military Review, Issue 3 Foreign Policy in Focus, “Prospects for al-Qaeda” (24 Jan 2003) Foreign Policy (Jan-Feb 2008) Foreign Policy (March-Apr 2008) Foreign Policy (May-June 2008) Foreign Policy (Nov-Dec 2008) Foreign Policy (Sept-Oct 2008)
Pakistan;]1 []2 2 4[] 4 (4) any person on any ship or aircraft registered in Pakistan wherever it may be. Explanation: In this section the word "offence" includes every act committed outside Pakistan which, if committed in Pakistan, would be punishable under this Code. Illustrations (a) A, a Pakistan subject, commits a murder in Uganda.
Cover photo"Blue Hour at Pakistan : Monument" 2016 by Muhammad Ashar [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons ISBN: 978-969-9732-04-1 Suggested citation: National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS) [Pakistan] and ICF. 2019. Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18. Islamabad, Pakistan, and Rockville, Maryland, USA: NIPS and ICF.
Domestic Determinants of Foreign Policy 9 781947661028 53500 ISBN 978-1-947661-02-8 35.00 Domestic Determinants of Foreign Policy in the European Union and the United States Foreign policy begins at home, and in Europe and the United States the domestic drivers of foreign policy are shifting in important ways. The election of Donald
Determinants of Foreign Policy: A Global Perspective Nabin Kumar Khara1 . Foreign policy is the strategy applied in international circles. Foreign policy process is a . The impact of foreign policy making is on culture and politics. The world of foreign policy is a complex phenomenon. It involves in dealings with several countries.
modern slavery:classical and Bayesian approaches Bernard W. Silverman University of Nottingham, UK [Read before The Royal Statistical Society on Wednesday, November 13th, 2019, Professor R.HendersonintheChair] Summary. Multiple-systems estimation is a key approach for quantifying hidden populations such as the number of victims of modern slavery.The UK Government published an estimate of 10000 .
